Topic: IMPRESSIONS: Scribblenauts

[Halbred]

Misleading name, great game.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressionsArt.cfm?artid=18750

 This DS game is one of the most creative games on the show floor, but itÂ’s terribly misnamed. You donÂ’t scribble anything. There is no drawing of any kind. Rather, you type words to make objects appear, then use those objects to solve puzzles. WhatÂ’s impressive is exactly how many words and objects the game recognizes and spawns sprites for. We typed in “dinosaur” and a generalized theropod appeared. We typed “zombie” and a zombie appeared, and it immediately began consuming the human character, who then turned into a zombie. We typed “God” and Zeus was born. We typed “Death” and the Grim Reaper popped up and immediately began fighting God, who eventually died.    

Even “fishing pole” and “time machine” were recognized by the software. ThereÂ’s a spell checker in case you miss a letter or two, and you can select what use you mean when you type a homonym. ItÂ’s all very impressive and interesting. ThereÂ’s a sandbox mode where you can just screw around and pop things into existence, then see what happens. The meat and potatoes of the game lies in the puzzle and challenge modes, which either ask you to do something specific (give two characters things theyÂ’d use) or find a way to grab a star that is floating on the environment. In one instance, a star sat atop a tree. The booth attendant typed in “beaver,” and a toothy rodent appeared and immediately fell the tree, allowing our character to grab the star.    

There are a few problems that I noticed. The graphical style of the game, while generally awesome, is abstract enough so that some objects aren’t really clear. When we attached the fishing rod to the character, icons appeared asking us whether he should use the rod or merely hold it. Neither button looked anything like “holding” or “using;” they both looked like blobs. Also, not every object has a use. The time machine didn't actually do anything (that would could tell). Controlling the main character is a little more finnicky than I would like, as it's hard to make him stop exactly where you want. Even so, I’m sure getting used to the layout and interface will become a breeze with more time. Scribblenauts looks like a fantastically original creation, and WB hopes to have it out by the end of the year.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Also, not every object has a use. The time machine didn't actually do anything (that would could tell).

I had played all the big titles at E3. Private showings of God of War III, Heavy Rain, Alan Wake. But at 4:00 on Thursday, I was wondering around the show floor, wondering what else I had to see. I saw a small little booth for "Scribblenauts!" in the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment section. I mean, who goes to that booth? But I remember hearing about it on GAF, and so I decided to check it out.

Best game of E3? Without a fucking doubt. Anyone who says otherwise did not play Scribblenauts. Best game of all time? Jesus Christ, I don't know, maybe. It's a game that challenges your IMAGINATION. No other game has ever done that.

So listen to this story. I was in the early levels; I didn't quite have an idea of how ridiculously in-depth the database was. I was summoning things like ladders, glasses of water, rayguns, what have you. But I reached a level with zombie robots, and the zombie robots kept killing me. Rayguns didn't work, a torch didn't work, a pickaxe didn't work. In my frustration, I wrote in "Time Machine". And one popped up. What the ****? A smile dawned on my face. I hopped in, and the option was given to me to either travel to the past or the future. I chose past. When I hopped out, there were fucking dinosaurs walking around. I clicked one, and realized I could RIDE THEM. So I hopped on a fucking DINOSAUR, traveled back to the present, and stomped the **** out of robot zombies. Did you just read that sentence? Did you really? I FUCKING TRAVELED THROUGH TIME AND JUMPED ON A DINOSAUR AND USED IT TO KILL MOTHERFUCKING ROBOT ZOMBIES. This game is unbelievable. Impossible. There's nothing you can't do.

Holy fucking ****.

Too bad you didn't figure that out when you played, but this game is definitely on the top of my DS games to buy list.

[Jonnyboy117]

I couldn't get the time machine to work, either. Could be a buggy part of the demo? It definitely sounds awesome based on that GAF post.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Another level placed a pool of water with a shark inside between us and the Starite. While a few options may have allowed us to circumvent the shark-infested waters, we all decided to take him out. I tried dropping a sword on its head pointy-side down, but it bounced harmlessly off its thick hide. I then dropped a hair dryer into the water with more electrifying, fruitful results.

Chris attempted to drop dynamite into the water, though the splash extinguished the fuse. He then threw waterproof C Four into the water, effectively recreating the ending of Jaws. J.C. created a Kraken, which fought with and ultimately bested the shark.

Andrew created a teleporter in an attempt to instantly apparate to the Starite -- instead, it took him to a medieval world where he was besieged by shadowy assassins. He tried distracting them with candy -- really, Andrew? -- then created a fairly anachronistic nuke. The nuke didn't detonate, however, so andrew created a laser rifle to take out the assassins. One of his lasers grazed the aforementioned WMD, and blew up the entire level.

I actually kinda hyped for this game and I haven't even looked at buying a DS game in a long time.

[Stogi]

LOL

That joystiq post has made this game a day one purchase!